Spicy plum barbecue sauce recipe
You can’t drive from here to there in the South without some smiling pig* tempting you to stop in for some of the World’s Finest BBQ. The bigger the pig is smiling the more authentic and genuine the barbecue. But for all of Frank’s, Joe’s, Sam’s and Sue’s claims of authenticity, no one really knows the true origin of barbecue — which shouldn’t be too surprising given that we weren’t actually the species that invented it**.
But skipping ahead millions of years, the modern origin of barbecue is still very murky. The ancient Chinese had specialty devices for smoke-roasting their meat, the early Europeans had brick and stone fireplaces outfitted with clever mirrored contraptions and the Germans and Czechs developed smokehouses. Even the Hebrew Old testament lays out plans for a barbecue as part of the Tabernacle in Exodus (which also happened to house the Ark of the Covenant, in case you were wondering how important cooking meat over fire was to our ancestors).
Smokin’ Dick’s BBQ, Seattle, WA.
Image: Wonderlane (Flickr)
Americans can most likely trace their barbecue back to the barbacoa of Arawak indians from Haiti and the Dominican Republic. All along the Gulf Coast, the Spanish began to refine the South American barbacoa which eventually made its way to Virginia and Carolina colonies — where they were waiting with their condiment of choice, vinegar. To this day, that region is still known for its exuberant use of vinegar in place of the more typical tomato-based sauces that would eventually come to dominate the barbecue landscape. They also still tend to eschew the more modern sauces for their distinctive mustard barbecue sauce, upholding a beloved mustard and pork tradition of the early German immigrants who settled there.
Before the introduction of vinegar, barbecue sauce consisted mostly of butter, herbs and spices but meat juices were sometimes used as well. Eventually wine, malt, oils, sugar cane, molasses, chili peppers, onions and tomatoes all came to be included. Now, barbecue sauce has evolved to encompass hundreds of different derivations, with many that take full advantage of seasonal fruits like apricots, mangoes, apples, cherries, strawberries, peaches and yes, plums.
You know a barbecue sauce is doing its job when it just fires off all your taste buds at once and you need to take a moment just to process all the different sensations. This spicy plum barbecue sauce does just that on baby back ribs or pork loin. I wouldn’t try this on beef as smoked pork seems to embrace fruit-based barbecue sauces in a way that beef never will (that’s fair though, because beef has it’s own sauces that suck on pork). The complex heat from the smoked jalapeños, the sugary-sweet citrus of the plums and that snap of fresh ginger would be lost and out of place on a beef brisket. But that’s just one guy talking. Experiment with this sauce yourself the next time you have an armful of fresh plums handy and make your own little bit of barbecue history.
* Am I the only one that thinks using smiling pigs to sell pork is just so… perverse? How depraved is the whole concept of a cartoon hog, grinning maniacally under his chef hat, offering strangers a tasty forkful of one his pig pals? A sociopathic mascot who, we must assume, just slaughtered and slow-roasted a whole pen of his fellow pigs, only to pull their charred remains apart with a fork and serve them to you on toasted bun. I mean just look at the Smoking’ Dicks BBQ pig on the sign. Pure pork evil. If you were to let your guard down for a moment, that pig would be sawing you in half on a bandsaw. I promise you, somewhere on that premises there’s probably a whole freezer just packed full of his dismembered victims.
** That discovery belongs to homo erectus.
Image: ForkingSpoon
Spicy plum barbecue sauce recipe
Smoked pork is the perfect way to enjoy this spicy plum barbecue sauce made with chipotle peppers and fresh ginger.
Ingredients
Instructions
Sauté the onion and garlic
In a large (3 to 4 quart), heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat, cook the onion and garlic in the olive oil for 5-7 minutes or until the onion becomes tender and fragrant.
Cook the sauce
Add in the plums, water, red plum jam, honey, apple cider vinegar, Dijon mustard, finely chopped chipotle in adobo, salt and pepper and bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium, cover and simmer, stirring occasionally for 45 minutes, or until the plums have begun to break down. Add the grated ginger, and simmer uncovered for an additional 5 to 7 minutes until the sauce has thickened to the desired consistency. Let the sauce stand for 10 minutes to cool.
Purée the sauce
Using an immersion blender, purée the cooled sauce until it's smooth (or as I do occasionally, leave the sauce with a slightly chunky texture — the bits of pepper and plum are especially good on pork chops). Use immediately to glaze your favorite pork or chicken dishes or store refrigerated in an airtight container (a mason jar is ideal) for up to 1 week.
Notes
Look for firm and plump plums that are free from wrinkled skin and any discoloration. Unripened plums can be stored on your kitchen counter for about week. Ripened ones will need to be stored in a plastic bag in your refrigerator for up to five days.
Ingredients
Directions
Sauté the onion and garlic
In a large (3 to 4 quart), heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat, cook the onion and garlic in the olive oil for 5-7 minutes or until the onion becomes tender and fragrant.
Cook the sauce
Add in the plums, water, red plum jam, honey, apple cider vinegar, Dijon mustard, finely chopped chipotle in adobo, salt and pepper and bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium, cover and simmer, stirring occasionally for 45 minutes, or until the plums have begun to break down. Add the grated ginger, and simmer uncovered for an additional 5 to 7 minutes until the sauce has thickened to the desired consistency. Let the sauce stand for 10 minutes to cool.
Purée the sauce
Using an immersion blender, purée the cooled sauce until it's smooth (or as I do occasionally, leave the sauce with a slightly chunky texture — the bits of pepper and plum are especially good on pork chops). Use immediately to glaze your favorite pork or chicken dishes or store refrigerated in an airtight container (a mason jar is ideal) for up to 1 week.
DISCLOSURE Hey there! Just so you know, this post might contain links to Amazon or other trusted affiliates where we make a small commission on qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you. We’ve also hand-picked some products for this recipe we thought our smart (and attractive) readers might enjoy : ) Learn more about our affiliate linking policy.
